The Walk-in Clinic

Back in December I was in a pretty bad car accident. It was bad enough that I very nearly totalled my husband's 68 mustang, and I did quite a number on my back. It wasn't my fault, some guy in a hurry cut me off, and I ploughed into him. It was unavoidable on my part.

The next day I went to the walk-in clinic near my house and filed an injury claim. I went to the walk-in clinic because although I've lived in Vancouver for 10 years now, I've never bothered to find a family doctor. I've always found it far too difficult to make an appointment to get in when you really need to, and that it is much easier just to pop into the walk-in clinic as needed....until now.

The doctor that I saw that day was really nice, but he wasn't the doctor I normally see, and little did I realize what a hassle it would become. Now, 6 months later, in order to settle my claim I have to go back and see the same doctor for a follow-up, only he is a very hard man to pin down.

I have been trying for several weeks now to get in to see him, and I am finding it damned near impossible. This particular doctor usually works afternoons, which makes it very hard for me to see him since I also work afternoons. His days off seem to be the same as mine, so that doesn't work either, and to top it all off the poor man has been off sick for a bit. The only time I can possibly see him is before work, and the only days he starts early are Wednesday and Friday.

So the clinic opens at 8:30, you would think that if I got there right at 8:30am I would have no problems getting in right....wrong. People in my neighborhood start lining up at 8:00am so that late-comers like me, who show up right as the clinic opens, have a 2 hour wait ahead of them. A 2 hour wait immediately after opening? It's ridiculous!! Some people have to go to work!! The most annoying thing is you wait for two hours to see the doctor, and then they spend a total of three minutes with you.

But the walk-in clinic doesn't care that I have to work, or that it was them who called me to come in in the first place, it doesn't care that I am moving to Alberta in a week and really need to see this particular doctor to settle my claim, and it doesn't care that I have tried to get in at least a dozen times over the last three weeks and I can't seem to get in. I wish I could go to another doctor's office but since this one saw me initially, I have no choice. I either find a way to get in or forfeit my injury claim.

My last day of work is Friday, and miraculously my doctor is in from 9-5 on Saturday. Unfortunately this means that on my first day off I have to drag myself out of bed to line up outside this clinic at 8:30am in the hopes that I can finally have my 3 minute exam. What a pain in the arse!